(Pic: Musa Nkuna)FOM audience treated to singing of a truly international stature from Musa Nkuna. (Review by Michael Green)
World-class is a term that is freely bandied about in South Africa today, sometimes without much justification, but South African-born Musa Nkuna is a singer of truly international stature, as was obvious to the Friends of Music audience who heard him in a recital of lieder and opera given at the Durban Jewish Centre.
His first notes, an aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute, indicated clearly that here was a tenor of exceptional quality, and it was easy to understand how he has succeeded in the highly competitive musical environment of Europe.
Musa Nkuna is 37. He was born in Gyani in the Limpopo province and has an imposing curriculum vitae: several degrees and diplomas in music, two years as principal tenor at the state theatre at Pforzheim in Germany, four more in the same capacity at the Cologne Opera House, and two years at the national theatre in Lisbon. He has appeared at recitals in 10 countries in Europe. His programme biography has a splendid throwaway line: “Among his 44 most recent opera roles on stage are”…. followed by a list of 20 operas ranging from Rossini to Benjamin Britten.
The bigger than usual Jewish Centre audience therefore had great expectations, and they were in no way disappointed. Musa Nkuna has been blessed by nature with a fine voice, and his natural gifts have been admirably developed by years of training allied to an innate intelligence and artistry. He dominated this recital, but there were notable performances from the soprano Cornelia Conrad-Vos, daughter of James Conrad, a well-known figure on the Durban musical scene, and from Andrew Warburton at the piano.
Musa Nkuna opened the programme with two Mozart arias, from The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, both of them delivered with pure, accurate intonation, well-judged phrasing and, on occasion, a splendid crescendo. He is a tall, slender man and he has a composed stage manner, without affectation and extravagance. And he was dressed in dinner jacket, not pyjama jacket, as is sometimes the style these days.
Later he sang an aria from Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin; arias from Verdi’s Traviata and Puccini’s La Bohème; a Shangaan hymn arranged by the singer himself, attractive and lively, with a jaunty piano part; and Dichterliebe, The Poet’s Love, the cycle of 16 songs by Schumann. He is a versatile performer as well as an accomplished one.
More Schumann was presented by Cornelia Conrad-Vos, the eight songs called Frauenliebe und leben, A Woman’s Love and Life.
Schumann’s piano music is so well known that it tends to overshadow the fact that he wrote about 250 songs, and this particular cycle may well have been unfamiliar to some members of the audience. It tells the story of a romantic relationship as seen by the woman, from first love to death, and it contains much beautiful music. Cornelia Conrad-Vos gave a committed and persuasive interpretation of these songs, and Andrew Warburton was excellent in the piano part, which often has a role of its own, more or less independent of the singer.
Andrew Warburton is a concert pianist with 20 concertos in his repertory. In this recital he displayed his skills as an accompanist, playing with sympathy, discretion and insight. His was an important contribution to a memorable evening.
The Prelude Players of the evening, funded by the National Lottery, offered something completely different. The performers were a group called Singing the Blues, consisting of Pete Misselbrook (guitar/vocal), Rob Ettershank (electronic keyboard), Dennis Bronner (bass) and Geoff Salt (percussion). They are not exactly young players - Pete Misselbrook has been playing the guitar for more than 50 years - but they gave much pleasure with their revival of some favourites of the sixties, including Georgia and Singing the Blues. - Michael Green
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